Chapter 157
Mitchell, lying on the living room sofa, checked the wall clock. He stared at the front door for a long time before turning on his phone and glaring at the familiar background. Although he knew there were no messages, he had checked more than dozens of times.
The sofa that had felt like a cloud in the sky when Geon-woo called earlier now felt like a moss-covered piece of furniture in a ghost town. He was feeling depressed alone in the silence where only white noise could be heard.
Maybe he should have suggested they talk on the phone before going to the filming set.
He desperately wanted to contact Geon-woo, but couldn’t bring himself to do it because yesterday’s conversation with Geon-woo was vividly etched in his memory.
When Geon-woo said he had a lot to think about alone and suggested they live separately, Mitchell couldn’t persuade him. No, he couldn’t even try.
Geon-woo’s words felt too sincere to dismiss as drunken nonsense. Above all, the expression on Geon-woo’s face as he whimpered to be left alone wouldn’t leave Mitchell’s mind. He suddenly started pleading in Korean.
“Please. Just leave me alone for a while. I need time.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t understood those words. He had studied Korean too diligently in an effort to please Geon-woo. As a result, Mitchell understood every word. How desperate must Geon-woo have been to speak in Korean?
Yesterday, he was really angry when Geon-woo asked to be let go. He almost shouted that Geon-woo was the one who had confined him first. It was fortunate that he didn’t pettily cling to those words.
Mitchell silently removed Geon-woo’s soiled pants and wiped his lower parts with wet wipes. He was repeatedly seized by the urge to cover Geon-woo’s mouth, which kept asking to be let go even while whimpering, and kiss him roughly, but he kept restraining himself.
Geon-woo, who looked like he might burst into tears at any moment, soon fell asleep, and Mitchell left the house, leaving him behind.
“Hah…”
He sighed as he recalled yesterday. Although he didn’t know why Geon-woo was acting this way, he intended to stay away for a while since that’s what Geon-woo wanted so badly. He didn’t want Geon-woo to hate him.
Mitchell turned on the TV to let noisy sounds fill the living room, and focused on the voices of people coming from it. He tried to endure forcibly, but it wasn’t easy.
The space left alone was hell, and the time without Geon-woo’s shadow felt like death. He felt like if he didn’t feel someone’s presence right now, he might run and jump through the glass window to the bottom of the building.
He had moved to this wide-open space because of memories of being trapped in a small room when he was young, but it was of no use.
In fact, the structure of the house didn’t matter. Whether he felt comfort or fear in a space stemmed solely from his thoughts.
Mitchell sat up and took off his t-shirt to shake off the choking sensation. As soon as he found the name of a close friend in his recent call list, he was about to contact him. But at the same time, his phone vibrated.
He wasn’t happy about the incoming call. He desperately needed to hear someone’s voice, but it wasn’t Jeff.
After a moment’s hesitation, Mitchell pressed the screen.
– Hey! You son of a bitch! What did you say to my father?
Jeff’s sudden shouting made Mitchell press his brow and quietly curse.
– You met with my father, didn’t you! You’re the one who revealed that I’ve been seeing men, right?
Mitchell had indeed contacted Jeff’s father. He hadn’t met him directly, but had sent something. It was on the day Geon-woo went for hair removal.
He had obtained Jeff’s photos through someone and secretly delivered them to Jeff’s father. They were several photos of Jeff enjoying intimate skinship with some man.
He had asked for Jeff not to hear who had sent the photos, and judging by what Jeff was saying, it seemed his father had kept that promise.
Mitchell had expected Jeff to contact him at some point after being severely scolded by his father. He just didn’t know when.
However, the timing was awful for Mitchell.
It stirred up and shook his mood, which was already troubled because of Geon-woo, and Mitchell, who had been barely enduring, completely exploded. Mitchell asked back in a cold voice.
“What did I do?”
Just thinking about how Jeff had tried to mess with Geon-woo still made his blood boil. Jeff always tested Mitchell’s patience.
“You’re the one who leaked the set photos, aren’t you? Were you trying to backstab me with such methods? You dare, against me?”
– …Even though you weren’t affected at all, shit, what do you want me to do!
Jeff knows that the things he did to block Mitchell’s path had no effect on Mitchell at all.
Seimon had taken care of it, and the photo leaker had already been sued. Although Jeff was in a position where he had to hope that the broker between the leaker and himself wouldn’t get caught, he assumed Mitchell didn’t know about that.
– Anyway, just tell me quickly. It was you, right? You’re the one who tattled that I’m a gay bastard, that I fool around with men!
“I never said such things.”
It wasn’t a lie. Mitchell hadn’t said anything about Jeff’s sexual orientation to his father. He had only sent the photos and said that the person with Jeff was very dangerous and of low quality, so he should keep a close eye on his son. As a friend.
He had never said the word ‘gay’.
– Damn it, then who…
“I’m hanging up.”
Mitchell, who had no intention of listening to Jeff’s lamentations, replied coldly and ended the call. As the process of acquiring ownership of Saint Hotel was moving slowly, it seemed he needed to consider other methods as well. Contacting Gordon, Brandon’s secretary, would be the top priority.
After ending the call, his mood worsened even more. He opened the photo gallery on his phone. As he had completely lost the desire to talk to anyone, he looked for videos of Geon-woo. It was a video they had taken jokingly with the staff.
Watching these videos was something he rarely did recently. He didn’t need the Geon-woo in his phone because the real Geon-woo was beside him.
The house became noisy with the TV and phone video mixing. But nothing reached Mitchell’s ears. The noise was buried under emotions that were collapsing without vigor.
As he focused on Geon-woo’s small laughter occasionally heard from the video, a different sound slipped in. Mitchell quickly tore his gaze from the phone and lifted his head.
It was clearly the sound of the front door opening.
***
“Mitchell-.”
I called Mitchell, mixing in a slightly crying voice. Mitchell, sitting on the living room sofa, looked surprised to see me. It was understandable since I had come without saying I was coming.
I had rushed down, but I lingered in front of the door for a while. To check what I should say, and because I felt embarrassed.
“Ah… I came early to leave together later.”
When I actually saw his face, the excuse I had prepared completely vanished from my memory. Not knowing how to start, I just said something irrelevant.
“You did well.”
Mitchell stroked my head and turned off the TV. The news anchor disappeared, leaving only a black screen. Then he pulled my arm to make me sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled my thigh.
We sat close to each other as usual. I also habitually placed both hands gently on Mitchell’s thigh.
“Um, Mitchell. I think I drank a bit too much yesterday.”
I laid the groundwork first. As I spoke with a grin, Mitchell smiled along with me. Despite my ridiculous request yesterday, Mitchell surprisingly didn’t seem to care much. As always, he touched me comfortably and playfully engaged in skinship.
“You did drink a lot. But weren’t you almost sober?”
“I was in and out of sobriety.”
“Drink in moderation…”
His words were cut off midway. Was Mitchell tired of scolding me too often? Well, thinking about what I did yesterday, I had nothing to say either.
“Drink in moderation.”
Still, Mitchell opened his mouth again and swept away my worries.
“Okay. I’ll really control it from now on.”
“…We’ll see.”
That look of disbelief was both amusing and relieving as it seemed he didn’t mind my mistake too much. I buried my face in Mitchell’s shoulder and laughed, shaking my shoulders. Mitchell stroked my back. We laughed together and shared warmth. It was really fortunate that Mitchell didn’t seem too hurt by what I said yesterday.
“But Mitchell, about us living in our separate houses…”
“Yeah?”
“Is that… okay?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“But you don’t like being alone. So, let’s just…”
“Even if I don’t like it, if that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”
Something felt a bit off. He was the type of person who would cling to the end even if I said no, but unlike Mitchell, he took a step back. Now I was the one feeling disappointed.
“I was just talking nonsense because I was drunk. I want to be with you. Let’s go upstairs together.”
Then Mitchell lightly bit my cheek and quietly let out a laugh.
“They say what comes out when drunk is the truth.”
He playfully tapped my cheek with his index finger.
“Honestly, I don’t remember much of yesterday.”
“You even spoke Korean. Saying we should live separately.”
“I did?”
I spoke Korean? I don’t remember… Oh? Oh! I remember. I remember. The memories and emotions from yesterday that had been partially obscured suddenly all came back.
“How desperate must you have been? I thought you couldn’t live without me…”
Mitchell laughed again. Just as I thought it was a strangely cold and eerie laugh, Mitchell’s hand holding me tightened.
“I guess that was a misconception?”
